BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell's offense erupted in the early innings on its way to a 16-9 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Jim Perry Stadium to even the series.
 
The Camels (4-6) put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in each of the first five innings to lead the Eagles (5-5) 14-1 after five. Andrew Schuldt led the team once again at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI.
 
Nine different Camels had an RBI on the day, and five of them had multiple. Jackson Thompson started the scoring in the first with a two-out RBI single, and Joey Morton followed that with a two-RBI triple to put them up 3-0 after the first.
 
All afternoon, the Camels took advantage of the opportunities they created. The team was 10-26 with runners on base, 5-6 with a runner on third and less than two outs and was 17-28 on advancement opportunities. Campbell was also 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts.
                                                       
Georgia Southern threatened in the second with runners on first and second with two outs. Luke Odden singled to right field, but a strong throw from Joe Simpson back to the plate got JP Herrholz attempting to score from second to close out the frame.
 
The Camels were aggressive early and often, as the leadoff batter reached safely in six of the eight innings for CU.
 
The second inning saw another two runs scored for the Camels off a two-RBI single from Schult, also with two outs.
 
Starter Jackson Roberts went five innings with six strikeouts, earning the win and moving to 2-0 on the year. Jevarra Martin was credited with the loss for Georgia Southern, moving his record to 0-2.
 
The Eagles went to their bullpen early, bringing in Jacob Phillips after Martin had thrown only 0.2 innings. Phillips allowed six earned runs in his 2.0 inning of work, including three runs in the third.
 
After Thompson and Morton led off the inning with a single and double, Jett Music hit a sacrifice fly to center, and both runners advanced to home and third base. Jarrett Martin came to the plate and hit his first home run of the season, sending it 381 feet over the left field wall.
 
Schuldt recorded his eighth RBI of the series in the fourth with an RBI double that scored Jonah Oster. Later in the inning, Thompson brought Schuldt home with an RBI groundout after Schuldt advanced to third on a throwing error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt.
 
Georgia Southern found their first run in the fifth, as Nico Senese came around to score after a fielding error from the Campbell infield.
 
The Camels responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Music and Martin each drew full-count walks to start the wave. Simpson, who was making his first start of the season, hit a double to left center scoring both runners.
 
Following Simpson, Darnell Parker Jr. was hit by new Eagles pitcher Landry Mead. Parker Jr. was hit by the pitch in three at-bats on the day, as the team was hit a total of five times in addition to drawing four walks.
 
Simpson and Parker Jr. executed a double steal to take third and second, and they advanced one more bag on a throwing error by the catcher trying to catch Simpson stealing third. Parker scored later in the at-bat when Oster hit an RBI groundout to the third baseman.
 
Georgia Southern scored three runs in the sixth off RBI hits from Jack Myers and Josh Tate, as Dalton Hazlett replaced Roberts on the mound. Hazlett pitched two innings out of the bullpen, followed by Will Palmer, Zac Martin and Kale Scruggs, who made his Campbell debut after sitting out last season due to injury.
 
RBI hits from Parker Jr. and Andrew Keller in the seventh inning gave the Camels their final runs of the game.
 
GS put on a small rally with five runs in the eighth inning, thanks in part to four walks from the Campbell pitching staff. Cam Foster and Bryson Trammell each had two-RBI singles, and another run scored on a fielding error on a ball put in play by Cade Parker.
 
For the Eagles, Tate, Foster and Trammell recorded two RBI, and Odden was the only batter to have multiple hits.
 
Scruggs pitched the final inning for Campbell, allowing a walk and a single before striking out the final two batters of the night.
 
UP NEXT
The Camels and Eagles play tomorrow in the rubber match to decide the series. The game at JPS will be streamed on Flo College, with the action beginning at 1:00.  
 
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